Boogie Board | An Interview With

Welcome to another interview with! This week we’ve had a little chat with Boogie Board, the person responsible for delivering some seriously surfy vibes into my ears this year. Below we talk about how Boogie Board came to be, influences, the wonderful nature of Surf Rock, and what’s in store for Steve. Enjoy reading; I’m gonna go wash the sand out of my ears.

What’s the story of how Boogie Board came to be? Who inspired you enough to want to make your own music? I had been playing drums in a two-piece rock and roll band for about 3 years in Chicago and my guitarist split to go to grad school, leaving me without a band. I have been playing drums for 13 years and been in tons of bands, so I just wanted to keep the music momentum going. After crafting so many songs on the drum kit I was kinda feeling bored and uninspired, basically I just wanted to take this break as a chance to finally write some melodies on my own.

When you write songs as the drummer, you’re not really writing the song, you’re kind of just making the rest of the band sound better. A change of pace was good for me; I wanted to express myself in a new creative output. I’ve always sort of played guitar, just never took it seriously since drums had been my main focus. Boogie Board kind of provided a new set of skills to try and master.

You’ve just released a new EP called Dream Telepathy. Are you happy with how it turned out? I think some of those songs are good and others not as good haha. This is my first try at writing songs, so I really don’t mind if a song or two is a flop. I have released 17 songs at this point and I don’t think I’ve really cracked the code to song writing yet. I like to keep my creative flow open, so when a new song presents itself I take it and write it into some kind of structure. This is something that I am constantly working on, there’s always room to improve!

Surf Rock appears to be the primary genre you dabble in on releases in the past, but Dream Telepathy seems to introduce extra genres into it’s sound. Was this a conscious decision to blend different styles together? Totally! I have been listening to a lot of Psych and Kraut Rock lately and I think those vibes may have influenced a few of my songs. I’ve always been interested in the “unknown” and I think these genres kind of glorify all of that mysteriousness and magic. The first album Surf N Turf was my attempt at trying out a style, just to see if I could actually do it and write a whole album. With my new songs I used surf rock as a diving board to create something that isn’t as easily defined in a genre. I think it’s important to establish a general sound for your band, but you gotta expand if you want to make something more memorable.

What is it about Surf Rock that appeals to you? Surf Rock just sounds cool, man. I love the old school style of bands like The Ventures or The Surfaris that can make a fully instrumental song that tells a story. They make you feel like you’re in the song, fully immersed in that time and place. It’s the escape that’s important to that genre, it achieves more for the setting than most other styles of music. Also the guitar riffs are raw as heck. When I started writing songs on my guitar, they were pretty much just rock and roll. Surf Rock style guitar riffs were kind of a way for me to try and get better at playing guitar. I thought that if I could play like Dick Dale I’d be able to write some pretty good songs– I’m not quite there yet!

What’s next in line for Boogie Board? Any live shows, more music? I’m writing songs constantly, so don’t be surprised if I release another album or two. I plan on playing more shows at some point, I got kind of burned out of playing the bar scene in Chicago, so maybe a basement or backyard would be a good change of pace– hit me up guys! Also I’m considering ditching the drum machine and putting a full live band together, maybe after my next album comes out, I don’t know yet haha.

Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. If you could sign off this interview with one final thought or request that would be great. Take it away! Surf’s Up!